Cub Nursery

All edible and usable offerings were divided up in front of Dabao.

The rope that binds Dabao is twisted directly on the spot. It is strong and flexible, and even adults cannot easily break free.

After tying up Dabao and dividing up the things, the men turned around and left tacitly. They didn't look at Dabao again, and didn't say anything about Dabao. They regarded Dabao as a dead person and left with peace of mind.

Dabao leaned against the tree with his back, and his feet were wet and soft withered grass. Occasionally, water dripped from the leaves, and they all avoided Dabao.

He quietly watched those people leave, and by the way completely erased the traces of their arrival, without crying or shouting.

But this does not mean that Dabao is not afraid. No matter how sensible he is, no matter how vaguely he guesses his own ending, when those people in his vision disappear completely and only himself is left in the whole world, he is also afraid and terrified. Involuntarily thinking whether he would be swallowed by Tian who suddenly appeared, whether it would hurt when he was swallowed, and whether he would be bitten off bit by bit.

If the sacrifice is unsuccessful and the sky does not swallow him, then the wild beasts in the mountains should come to him soon...

Dabao sullenly tried to look around as far as his neck could move, his ears pricked up, trying to listen to the slightest sound.

In any case, the rationality in his heart is still occupied by the valley of survival after all, he wants to live.

The sky was gloomy, as if it would continue to rain at any time, Dabao tried his best to raise his face, looking at the sky through the layers of leaves.

For a certain moment, Dabao even thought that it would be great if the sacrifice was successful, at least then his father and mother would have a good life in the future, and his younger brother could grow up smoothly.

The raindrops on the leaves slowly gathered, and then the leaves bent because they couldn't bear the weight, and the raindrops slid down and hit Dabao's feet.

For another moment, he thought of the little cub hidden in the ancestral hall.

The little cub said he wanted to come to him, but he didn't agree at the time, because he didn't want to implicate the little cub.

Dabao knew that he was different from ordinary children, but he didn't take precautions against him, because that little cub looked a lot like his younger brother, even worse than his younger brother. At least his younger brother had his elder brother and his parents to protect him. Cubs have nothing.

The feeling of hunger in the stomach became more and more obvious, and the mouth became dry. Dabao was hungry and thirsty.

The mountain was very humid, and the wet leaves under his feet seemed to be fermenting, giving off some unbearable smell, which made Dabao dizzy for a while.

The body was very uncomfortable, and the feeling of being on the verge of death made Dabao collapse, but every time he passed out, he would wake up quickly, because the body was so uncomfortable.Standing for too long, his feet swelled up, and he gradually lost consciousness, but the hunger in his stomach became more and more obvious, making him more and more aware that he was slowly dying.

The sacrifice was still unsuccessful, but there was the roar of wild beasts in the mountains.

Dabao sighed softly, thinking of his fate, either starving to death, or being bitten to death by wild animals when he was about to starve to death, and then eating meat and drinking blood.

The sound of the beast approached, and the roar gradually diminished, replaced by a strange tranquility, and very subtle footsteps that were easily caught by Dabao.

Under normal circumstances, Dabao would not be able to hear the light footsteps of the beast. He was probably dying, so he sensed the footsteps representing death.

Suddenly, the approaching beast let out a short whine, and then fell silent completely.

Dabao's eyes widened slightly, and he tried to raise his head, and saw a small figure slowly walking towards him dragging something about his size.

The field of vision gradually became blurred, and Dabao couldn't see the people who were getting closer no matter how wide his eyes were.

"You are about to starve to death." The little cub put down the beast in its paws, approached slowly, took out the offerings from the ancestral hall, and handed them to Dabao, "Eat some. I have been watching for a long time, and the changes in the sacrifices Not at all, but there were quite a few beasts trying to get close, and I beat them all away."

After all, it is a monster cub. When it is a little less hungry, its combat effectiveness is still higher than that of the wild beasts in the mountains.

Smelling the smell of food, Dabao immediately opened his mouth, no longer gnawing small mouthfuls like last time, he just choked dryly, rolled his eyes, but refused to spit out the food in his mouth, the instinct to live took over All in all, he wants to live!

"You're going to choke to death." The little cub grabbed the beast, tore open the beast's neck with its claws, and brought the bloody wound to Dabao's mouth.

The scarlet blood had a strong sweet smell, which Dabao would not dare to look at normally, but now he gulped it down, and even tasted a little bit of sweetness from it.

Blood rushed down his throat, finally making him swallow the food in his mouth.

The offerings were brought to his mouth again, and Dabao continued to chew.

At this time, Dabao was no longer calm and sensible as usual, he was like a little beast with only instinct left, swallowing food to keep himself alive.

With food in his stomach, Dabao slowly woke up, and his vision gradually became clearer.

He could see clearly the little cub standing in front of him, and the beast between the two of them. Even the sweetness in his mouth turned into a strong fishy smell, making him nauseous, as if his stomach also changed. Feeling uncomfortable, but Dabao swallowed hard, choosing to swallow the taste in his mouth.

With energy in his body, he regained his composure, but he was different from the sensible one before.

He knew that the little cub brought him food, and even helped him kill dangerous beasts. He finally came back to life because of the little cub.

"Help me untie the rope." Dabao licked his lower lip, licking off the trace of scarlet from the corner of his lips, but his clear eyes seemed to be stained with scarlet. It’s just a goal that uncle set up so that the village will not fall apart and continue to be a whole.”

A child who has experienced life and death has an epiphany in an instant.

"Uncle Wu is not wrong, and the people in the village are not wrong in order to survive. It is inevitable that the younger brother will be chosen, and if it is not the younger brother, it will be someone else."

"It's just...even if I'm alive, it's not the same as before."

The little cub was standing opposite Dabao, he was a little shorter, and the place where he was standing was also relatively short, so he had to slightly raise his face to look at Dabao, "Aren't you waiting for the sacrifice?"

"No more." Dabao said, "Even if there is a sacrifice, I don't intend to wait any longer."

The feeling of being close to death, jumping repeatedly on the edge of death, once is enough, he doesn't want to try again.

The little cub stopped talking, stepped forward and stretched out its paws, easily broke the strong rope and rescued Dabao.

"It's raining." Dabao raised his face to look at the sky, his feet were still a little numb and he couldn't move, but now there were gaps in the strange layers of leaves that had previously blocked his sight, allowing him to see the sky successfully.

He was still leaning against the tree trunk, exactly the same posture as before, but something was completely different.

"Find a place to shelter from the rain." The little cub said, "The meat of this beast should be edible, so find a place to live. There are several fire folders in the ancestral hall, and I took one. I took all the offerings. Nothing left, nothing else to take away."

Seeing that Dabao remained silent, the little cub added: "Uncle Wu specially prepared the fire pocket. He said that if I leave, I can take a fire pocket. The offering... I don't think there is any need to keep it. I am planning to share the remaining offerings, but I think those offerings should be given to you."

The people in the village no longer worship their ancestors devoutly. Everyone has very dark thoughts in their hearts. They no longer hide their eyes and faces. They are about to enter the ancestral hall and divide up all the valuable things inside!

The little cub moved one step ahead of them, left the ancestral hall with his things, and slowly followed Dabao into the mountain together.

"Let's go." Dabao said softly.

The little cub didn't speak.

In fact, there is no suitable place to shelter from the rain in the mountains, but it is difficult to go out of the mountains today according to Dabao's footsteps.Fortunately, they were very lucky to find an empty and dry tree hole, and the two of them were thin enough to squeeze in just right.

It's just that no fire can be lit in the tree hole, and the body of the beast can't be preserved for a long time. In order to prevent the smell of blood from attracting more beasts, it can only be buried farther away to cover up the smell of blood.

"Let's eat the offering," said the little cub.

Offerings can also fill the stomach, and then go outside to collect a little water from the leaves to drink, which can temporarily quench thirst.

The rain that started again soon turned from light rain to heavy rain, and the sound of raindrops hitting leaves was everywhere.

The little cub and Dabao leaned against each other, feeling each other's warmth, almost identical to their skinny, bone-protruding, slightly human bodies.

"You are a good person." Dabao said softly.

He was sacrificed, no one cared, only this little cub came after him.

"I'm not human." The little cub said softly, "I'm a monster, a monster cub."

Dabao hummed lightly. At this time, in his heart, there was no clear distinction between humans and monsters. He even felt that some people were much more hateful than monsters. People cannibalize people in the village, but they have to cover several layers of fig leafs to prevent people from dying all at once. They have to look for reasons in a high-sounding manner, and slowly torture them to death.

At this moment, all the understanding and affection for Uncle Wu in Dabao's heart disappeared, turning into a dark and deep hatred.

There was no sacrifice, but it was just a sanctimonious excuse given to the victim by the villagers.

The tree hole is very hidden, no rain comes in, and the hole is covered with leaves to prevent the wind from blowing in. The two little beast-like people huddled together quickly felt warm, and neither of them explained what the day would be like. , What about the future, just fell asleep peacefully.

Because they know that no matter what the future holds, at least at this moment, the two of them are comfortable, and that is enough.

In this world, how dare you ask for more.

After a good night's rest, Dabao regained some strength, and helped the cub dig out the buried beast carcasses, and suggested: "Let's go to the town first to have a look and sell this thing, maybe we can sell it for a lot of money. Then we will see what to do next.”

"Aren't you going back to the village?" the little cub asked.

Dabao looked down at the beast, and said softly, "Return, but it's just for a look, don't let them find out."

"Oh." The little cub understood, but he didn't understand, but this did not prevent him and Dabao from taking the beast out of the mountain, and then went to the town to find a buyer.